Hi there, thank you for your question about the benefits of volunteering to the volunteer. All up, one of the key benefits of volunteering (I add my own experience here!) is adding purpose to one's life, and/or doing something meaningful or useful. Other benefits include longevity, lower blood pressure, less stress, a greater appreciation of time, perspective, and better self esteem. Please find my deep dive below. HEALTH BENEFITS
Live longer: Over 40 international studies confirm that volunteering can add years to your life, or a 22% reduction in mortality rates. As little as 25 hours a year can be beneficial. People who volunteer after a heart attack have reported a reduction in despair and depression — factors that have been linked to an increased likelihood of death in heart attack patients. This is according to The Health Benefits of Volunteering: A Review of Recent Research
Volunteering can help people cope with a chronic illness, by helping them take their mind off a problem. A study by Pain Management Nursing found that people's pain ratings dropped from 6 to 4 after volunteering – such activity also helps people feel more in control of their pain.
Lower blood pressure: A study by Psychology and Aging found that adults over 50 who did 200 hours over a year were 40% less likely to have hypertension than non-volunteers. The lowered stress combined with being active are thought to be the keys here.
Cholesterol: Canadian tenth-graders in a recent study lost weight and had better cholesterol profiles compared to their non volunteering peers.
Another controlled study found that older people who tutored children through a program showed improved stamina, memory, flexibility, and lower levels of depression.
EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS
Added meaning to life -Having a social impact and connecting with others is one of the best things for one's mental health. Citizens Advice Bureau published a study that also found that volunteering boosts self esteem. In an alienated world, the value of developing social bonds and an expanded social life shouldn't be underestimated.
Volunteering helps people manage and lower stress levels. Helping others, our body releases oxytocin, which buffers stress.
I am currently volunteering at Atlantic Care Hospital, I have learned a lot ever since I began volunteering from November. During volunteering I meet different people, I talk to them and have learned new things from them. I stay after school very thursday and help tutor for math. I think that I have take a step forward and help others in any way I can . I consider volunteering as gaining experience, learning new things and most importantly helping the
When one volunteers, it is not for their personal gain, yet rather for the benefit of others. The volunteering opportunity would enable one to make a direct connection with others. Thus, the volunteers get
The first reason you should volunteer is that it betters the community around you. You can live in the most beautiful city in the world but would not want to live there it was dirty because of a lack of people caring about littering or if there were large amounts of homeless and hungry people because no one volunteered to help build a house or volunteer at a soup kitchen
Volunteering to me didn’t seem very pleasing at first. My focus was simply getting the hours I needed to make my resume look good. However, my perspective changed when I began getting involved with the various activities of the community. I enjoyed helping and serving others, seeing the positive impact I made gave me a great satisfaction. Thankfully, I have volunteered in many areas, however there are a few organizations in which I have invested more time and effort.
I currently do not volunteer at a particular place regularly, but volunteer at various places as much as I can and have accumulated over 250 hours while in high school. By volunteering, students get an opportunity to serve the community and provide help to those who need it, yet not expecting anything in return. For me, I have learned the value of hard work, especially when it makes other peoples’ lives better while volunteering.
Volunteering gives me the opportunity to be there for someone and to change people’s lives including my own. Volunteering to me is a way of giving back to the community or someone in need of help. For as long as I can remember I have always had the passion for helping people especially children and the aged, thus my interest in nursing. Any opportunity to perform an act of kindness made me happy that at least I could be of help to someone. From taking care of my siblings and cousins, babysitting, helping friends and among others. Of the many goals I have in life the most important one is to provide help to those in need through my commitment of service. I volunteered at a daycare school closer to me and
“Many people feel a sense of self in doing something for others: friendship, support, bonding and a feeling of belonging are why some people volunteer. I also felt this feeling of belonging when would participate in the Saint Jude Bike-a-thon. Most of my friends and classmates would be there pushing along with me. Volunteering events also provide a great opportunity to meet new people and develop new meaningful relationships with them. The shared experience is usually what bonds people
volunteering is important in the public sector because it helps the public services save money other than the military as the military reservists get paid but it is still voluntary. I got all my information from the websites which are for the organisation. the benefits of volunteering are:
• It's ridiculously Fun - exploring new places, food & cultures, trips to the beach, evening events and games.
I know from other experiences that volunteers really make a difference in people’s lives. Volunteering is something that everyone should want to do, and the benefits are a great part too. I have learned through my church family different ways to feel “needed” on this earth, and one of those ways is to help others. I have learned about Karma, within the last couple of years, and I truly believe in it. What goes around, comes around. So I think that if you are only putting good deeds out there, then eventually someone something will do good deeds in
My favorite part is seeing the most grateful faces of those that you helped. According to Forbes.com there are five overall benefits of volunteerism which include the feeling of having more time, gaining and improving skills, becoming a healthier person, building experience, and feeling more loved, (Horoszowski, 2015, para. 5). I agree with all five of these benefits from personal experience. Volunteering is like ice cream, you can never have enough. After your first project, you want to do more and broaden the variety of different projects you work with. When you help others it makes you feel that you are using your time more wisely for a purpose rather than wasting your time doing activities for yourself such as watching television. Since your time is benefiting someone else for a positive purpose, you feel like you have more
It can also help me gain scholarship opportunities and enhance my character which will help make me a better person with a noble character. By advancing my character, I will influence people that I run into in a positive way. It will also help me get more involved in my community. Although I don't have much volunteer experience, I hope to earn more service hours. I personally like to help people because it makes me feel good to help someone else.
Volunteering in your community helps solve many dilemmas in your community that descend through the eyes of government and social agencies (Everything you ever wanted to know about volunteering).
There are almost as many reasons for getting involved in volunteer work as there are volunteers. Once people get started, they find that their deepest rewards are ones they didn't expect when they first came looking for a volunteer assignment. Participants entered the volunteer world through ads in the paper, articles in the media and invitations by friends. They wanted to get involved in a new community, they overheard someone talking about a need or they just wanted to be active. Some wanted to repay a perceived debt to society and others took up volunteer work as part of a major reassessment of
Volunteerism enables students to gain the moral lesson that is vital to their life and develop their future interest. According to source 2, “community service teaches us through experience - about the relationship between empathy and responsibility, about what it takes to be part of a community, in essence, about human being”. While students are helping their community, they learn the crucial moral lessons in the most direct and impressive way. Through an actual experience of volunteering, students are reminded that it is their responsibility to serve for their community because they are a part of it. Helping without any feedback allows them to realize the power of empathy, the essential value that makes the society a